Search form

New green HQ for Awe Sum Organics

Awe Sum Organics' new headquarters in downtown Santa Cruz, Calif., was previously a gallery. The importer is scheduled to move in Oct. 6.

Photo by Courtesy Awe Sum Organics

Fruit importer Awe Sum Organics plans to move its headquarters Oct. 6 from Capitola to Santa Cruz, Calif., where the company has been remodeling a downtown building.

Awe Sum Organics is pursuing LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for sustainability features in the 5,200 square-foot site at 123 Locust St., Santa Cruz.

“The remodeling began in June with an emphasis on green building,” Elizabeth Posner, director of marketing and headquarters project manager, said in a news release.

Features include moveable, reconfigurable glass walls developed by Calgary, Canada-based DIRTT Environmental Solutions. Dubbed DIRTT Breathe walls, they incorporate plants and come with integrated power and data.

“If you need to remodel or move, you just take them with you,” Posner said in the release.

Such walls are also used by San Jose-area companies including EBay, Google, and LinkedIn.

Other features include Knoll furniture and desks that can be reconfigured for standing or sitting workstations.

A second construction phase will add a rooftop garden and solar panels.